Electrically-operated mine-door.



W. W. MURRAY 84 J. F. DILLON.

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MINE DOOR. APPLICATION FILED mural. 1914.

Patented July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA FLANQQRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D..C.

W. W. MURRAY & J. F. DILLON.

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MINE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1914.

Patented July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

Patentei July 6, 1915.

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ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MINE DOOR. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3|. I914.

Patented July 6, 1915.

5 -SHEETSSHEE T 5.

COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH IO-.WASHINOTON, D. C.

WILLIAM: w. M nnAY nn ra n-Es r. nI LoN, or BEARING, wnsr VIRGINIA.

ELEQ'I'BIGLLY-OPERATED MINE-DOOR.

Mas er.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratenteaaai e, ia-is.

Application filc clluly, 31, 1914. Serial No. 354,294.

To all whom it may concern .7

Be it known that we, WILLIAM MUR- rcxr and JAMEs F. DILLON, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Dearing, in the county of McDowell andState of West Virginia, have invented certain new and use fulImprovements in Electrically-Operated Mine-Doors; and we do herebydeclare. the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will on able others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates. to new and useful improvements in mine doors,and has for its principal object to. provide automatic, electricallyoperated mine doors which willnormally be held closed, but-which may beopened upon the approach of a car.

Another object of the invention is to, provide a door of the abovecharacter which works automatically, thus eliminating the necessity ofmanual operation.

A. further object of the invention is to provide means a). control theoperation of the door from the main supply of electric current orprovide means to. control the operation of the door from an auxiliarysup r y- Still another object of the invention is to provide anautomatic switch which Will control the supply of" electrical current tothe motors. which operate the door to. insure the proper operation0t thedoor at all times;

A. still further object of the invention is to provide mine doors whichare substan-: tially airtight, thereby assisting inthevenstilation ofthe mine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device wherein arelatively weak current may be used to operate the door when so desired.

With these and oth r objects in view, the invention consists in tienovel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forthin the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1. is a face view of a pair of mine doors showing the operationmeans as it would appear when applied thereto, Fig. 2 is a sectionalview taken on line 22-Iof Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken on line 3.3;of Fig. 1, Fig; 4 is. an enlarged detail view of thedoor controlling motor and gearing therefor, Fig. 5 is an enlargeddetail view showing the method of closing the circuit through the motor,Fig.

6 is; an enlarged detail sectional view of the guide for the doorillustrating the stop which is, used in connection therewith, Fig. 7 isa top plan view of the controlling switch showing the armature removed,Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of Fig. 7. showing the armature in place,Fig. 9 is a diagrarmnatic view of the wiring circuit showing the. sameusing two, motors to operate the door, Fig. 10 is adiagrammatic view ofthe wiring circuit showing the use of one motor to. operate the doors,and Fig. 11 is a bottom perspective view of the contact armature. Fig.12 is a side view in elevation of the controlling switch showing thesame in, its normal position, Fig. 13 is an end view from the magnetendof Fig. 12, Fig. 14: is a. view similar to Fig. 12 showing thedevice, in its operated position, and Fig. 15 is a fragmentary viewsimilar to Fig. 13 showing the switch in its operated position.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1designates as an entirety the casing of the door comprising the headpiece 2 which is supported on the upright 3. Secured to the, head piece2 near the upright 3 is the partition a which forms the pocket 5 inwhich the rollers 6, which control the operation of the doors, are held.A suitable horizontal partition wall 7 is secured between the partitions4: and said wall 7 is arranged to form the upper guide for the minedoors, which are designated generally by the numeral 8. These minedoorsS comprise the two separate frames 9 and 10;, one of which carriesthe canvas 11 which forms the closure for the opening formed by theframe. Suitable brace rods 12 are secured within the frames and arearranged to strengthen the same to prevent them from becoming racked orfrom sagging. Each of these doors is provided at its upper end withsuitable hangers 13 which are arranged to cooperate with the track 14carried by the partition 7 in holding the doors in operative position.Suitable po'ckets 15 are formed laterally of the door openings and arearranged to receive thedoors when :slid to their open position.Rotatably mounted on the. lower edge of each of the door frames are therollers 16 which are arranged to take up the friction ofthe lower edgeof the door against the guide 17 which may be formed "of channel iron orany suitable material. The abutting edges of the. door frames are cutaway as at 18 to form a lock joint which will insure the properengagement of the doors to prevent the escape of air from the interiorof the mine.

The track of the mine, which is designated generally by the numeral 19,is supported on the usual ties 20, and one of the ties, which isdesignated by the numeral 21, is preferably tapered in cross section tosupport'the guide 17 hereinbefore referred to. This tie is so tapered toavoid any danger of the contents of the cars which might fall uponthe'track, from interfering with the proper operation of the doors.

Having described the detail construction of the doors, and hangerstherefor the next in order Will be the detailed description of theoperating mechanism, which is supported on the partition wall 7hereinbefore described.

A suitable motor 22 is supported on the partition wall 7 and carries theusual shaft 23 to which the spur gear 24, which meshes with the gearwheel 25, is secured. This gear wheel 25 is carried on the shaft 26'which is supported in the brackets 27 and carries intermediate its endsthe winding drums 28, which drums are flared outwardly at their edges asat 29 to insure the proper winding of the rope or cable by means ofwhich the doors are operated. This rope or cable is designated by thenumeral 30 and one end thereof is secured at 31 to the door frame. Asimilar rope or cable 32 is secured to the opposite side of the doorframe as at 33 and the opposite end of said rope or cable 32 carries theweight 34 by means of which the doors are normally held in their closedposition. It will thus be seen that when the motor is set in motion, therope or cable will be wound upon the drums, thereby causing the doors toopen, and upon releasing the car from the motor and breaking the circuitit will be evident that the doors will again return to their normalclosed position through the ac-,

tion of the weight 34. A suitable contact rail 35 is supported on theinsulating material 36 which in turn is supported on the blocks 37,- andsaid contact rail is held upwardly by means of the compression coilsprings 38 which are placed at suitable intervals to insure the propercontact of the wheel as illustrated in Fig. 5. The rails 39 of the trackform the opposite contact point, and it will thus be seen that when thewheels of the cars rest on the rails and on the sub rail 35, the circuitthrough the motor will be completed, thereby causing the doors to open.

. In order to insure the proper operation of the doors at all times, theauxiliary motor 40 is provided and said motor is provided with the usualshaft 41 carrying the spur gear 42, which is arranged to mesh with thespur gear 43 carried by the shaft 26, and it will thus be seen that whenthe motor 40 is set in operation the shaft will be rotated therebycausing the doors to be operated. It is to be understood that when sodesired the auxiliary motor may be eliminated and the main motor drivenfrom the storage battery circuit as will be fully set forth hereinafter.In order to insure the proper operation of the motor there is providedthe switch which is designated by the numeral 44. This switch comprisesthe base plate 45 having secured thereto the electromagnets 46. Theseelectromagnets 46 are arranged to be in circuit with the main line andto normally attract the armature 47 which is pivoted at 48 to the arms40. This armature carries a plurality of contact plates 50 which arearranged to coiiperate with the contact points designated generally bythe numeral 51. These contact plates and contact points are arranged inpairs as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 11 and are arranged to coiiperatewith each other inclosing the circuit through the various instrumentswhich are in circuit. A suitable extension 51 is formed at the rear endof the armature 47 and is arranged to form a support for the weight 52which normally tends to draw the armature away from the electromagnets.

Having described the several parts, it now remains to describe in detailthe'operation.

The electric generator in the power house, which is designated by thenumeral is connected in circuit with the overhead trolley wire 54 andthe tracks 55. The rails 39 form one of the contacts 55 and said railsare bonded as at 56 to insure the proper contact of the wheels thereto.Secured as at 57 to the trolley wire 54 is the connecting wire 58, theopposite terminal of which is connected to the magnets 46 hereinbeforcreferred to. The opposite terminal of the magnet is connected by meansof the wire 59 to the rail 55 as at 60 and it will thus be seen that themagnets are shunted across the main line, thereby remaining energizeduntil the power is shut off at the power house in which the generator 53is located. (lonnected to the trolley wire 54 as at 61 is a suitablewire 62 which is connected at its opposite terminal to the contact 63which is arranged to be engaged by the contact plate 64 which is carriedby the armature and the opposite end of the contact plate is arranged toengage the contact point 65 which is connected by means of the wire 66to the resistance coil 67, the opposite terminal of which is connectedas at 68 to a direct current motor 22 which is of the same voltage asthe main line. The opposite terminal of the motor is connected by meansof the wire 70 to one terminal of the switch 71, and the oppositeterminal of the switch 71 is conaware? nected to the wire 72 which inturn is con.- nected at its end in. the contact point 73, which isarranged to be engaged by the plate 7 4 carried by the armature and theopposite terminal of the plate is arranged to engage the contact point 75 which is connected by means of the wire 76 to the rail 35 hereinbeforereferred to. It will thus be seen that when the switch 71 is in contactand a car approaches the doors fromeither direction the wheels of thecar will form a contact between the rails 35 and 39 thereby closing thecircuit through the motor 22 and causing the doors to be opened. Shouldthe power for any reason become thrown off at the power house it will beevident that the magnet 46 will be deenergized, thereby permitting theweight 52 to draw the armature away from the magnet, thereby throwingthe battery circuit which willbe described in detail hereinafter, intooperation and disconnecting the mainline circuit hereinbefore referredto. This battery circuit originates at the power source 77 and passesthrough the wire 78 to the contact point 79 of the switch 44k Thiscontact point is arranged to be engaged by the plate 80, the oppositeterminal of which engages the contact point 81 and causes the circuit topass through the wire 82, through the switch 83, and into the motor 40.The current then passes from the motor 40 into the wire 84 and to therail 55 through the contact 85, and when a car bridges the space betweenthe rails 35 and 39 it will be apparent that the current will passthrough the wire 86 and into the contact point 87 across the contactplate 88 to the contact point 89 and from thence through the wire 90 tothe battery 77 hereinbefore referred to. It will thus be seen that anautomatic switch isprovided which will effectively control the operationof the doors regardless of whether the main line circuit or theauxiliary circuit is used.

In order to eliminate the necessity of the use of a second motor, thewiring circuit which is illustrated in Fig. 10 is used, and a pluralityof storage batteries of greater strength are provided. In thisconstruction the wiring system is substantially the same as thatpreviously described with the exception of the change in the batterycircuit which will be described in detail as follows: As soon as thecurrent from the power house is discontinued, the weight 52 will drawthe armature downwardly so that the contact points 78 and 81, 87 and 89will be in contact with their respective plates 80 and 88, thus causingthe circuit to pass from the batteries 91 through the wire 92, and tothe rail 55. When a car forms a contact it will be apparent that thecurrent will pass through the car wheel into the rail 35 and through thewire 93 into the contact point 78 from which it passes through thecontact plate 80 tothe contact, point 81 from whence it passes. throughthe wire 94: into the wire 66 and thence through the main motor 22through the wire and switch 71, to the junction 95 of the wire 96,thence through the contact point 87 to the contact point 89 through the.bar 88, from whence it passes through the wire 97 to the power source 91hereinbefore referred to. It will thus be seen that there is provided asimple and etliecti-ve means for using either the original or anauxiliary motor and a simple and effective mine-door-controllingmechanism is provided which will effectively hold the doors open duringthe passage of a car therethrough.

A brief description of the operation of the device will be given in thefollowing paragraph.

It will be evident from the foregoing that when this improved mine dooris used, a car traveling along the rails will engage the rail 35,thereby causing a contact to be formed between the rail 35 and the rail89 which will permit the current to flow from the main trolley wire 54through the wire 62, the switch 44-, and thence to the motor 22. Thecurrent is then turned through the wire 72 and switch 44, the wire 7 6and to the rail 35, thence to the car wheel and the rail 39- back to thepower source. Should the power at the power source 53 give out for anyreason it will be apparent that the weight 52 of the switch -14: willcause the armature to rock back due to the deenergization of the magnet46, and upon its rearward movement it will be apparent that the circuitwill be formed through the contact points 79, 81, 87 and 89 of the subcircuit which is generally in the battery 77. It will thus be seen thatthe current will pass from the battery into the wire 78, switch 44:,wire 82, to the motor 40, from whence it will pass through the wire 84:to the rail 39, and thence through the car wheel to the rail 35, andthrough the wire 86 to the switch 4:4, thence back to the wire 90 to thepower source. It will thus be seen that when a car approaches the doorfrom either side, the circuit will be closed through the motor whetherthe main motor or the sub motor be used, and the door will thereby beopened. Upon the passage of the car beyond the rail 55, it will beevident that the weights will settle to their normal position andthereby draw the doors into their closed position, thus preventing theescaping of any air from the mine tunnel and preventing the air fromfouling therein.

While inthe foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changesmay be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fallwithin' the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims. I

Having thus described our invention, we claim: i

1. The combination with a mine door, means to actuate the door,auxiliary means connected to the door-actuating means, and arranged toactuate the door, a switch arranged to normally keep the maindooractuating means in operative relation, and also arranged toautomatically cut out the main door-operating means and throw in theauxiliary door-operating means should the main door-operating meansbecome inoperative.

2. In combination, a mine door, a normally opened main electric circuit,a normally opened auxiliary electric circuit, a source of power supplyfor the main circuit, a dooropening means included in said circuits, asource of power supply for the auxiliary circuit, means forautomatically connecting the auxiliary circuit with its source of. powersupply should the source of power supply on the main circuit beinterrupted, and a car-operated means for closing the live circuit.

3. The combination with a mine door of electrical means to open thedoor, means trolled from the main circuit whereby when the power throughthe main circuit is interrupted, the auxiliary circuit will beautomatically cut in.

I 4 The combination with a mine door, a normally opened electricalcircuit, a normally opened auxiliary electrical circuit, a separatepower source for each circuit, a door opening means included in the maincircuit, a door opening means in the auxiliary circuit, an automaticswitch normally holding the main circuit cut in, said switch beingcontrolled by the main circuit, means carried by the switch to cut inthe auxiliary circuit, and cut out the main circuit should the powersupply be cut off from the main circuit, and car-actuated means forautomatically closing the circuit upon the approach of a mine car towardthe door.

5. The combination with a mine door, a

. main electrical circuit, a main power supply in said circuit, and amain door opening means included in the circuit, of an auxiliarycircuit, an auxiliary power supply in the auxiliary circuit, adoor-opening means in the auxiliary circuit, means adapted toautomatically cut in the auxiliary circuit should the power on the maincircuit cease, and car-controlled means to close one or the othercircuit according to the position of the cutting in means.

6. The combination with a mine door, a main electrical circuit, a mainpower supply in said circuit, and a door-opening means included in thecircuit, of an auxiliary circuit, an auxiliary power supply in theauxiliary circuit, a door-opening means in the auxiliary circuit, anelectrically operated double throw switch, one pole of which isconnected in the main circuit, while the other pole is connected in theauxiliary circuit, electrical means controlled from the main circuit tohold the switch in such a position that the main circuit is cut in,means to throw the switch to the opposite side should the source ofsupply through the main circuit cease and thereby cut in the auxiliarycircuit, and automatic circuitclosing means operated upon the approachof a mine car toward the door.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence oftwowitnesses.

IVILLIAM IV. MURRAY. JAMES F. DILLON.

Witnesses B. G. CHAPMAN, JOHN A. MURPHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

